The present invention relates to hard disk drives. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for edge blending hard drive head sliders.
FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a typical hard disk drive. Hard disk drive storage devices typically include a rotating disk 101 mounted for rotation by a spindle motor (not shown). A slider 102, supported by a suspension arm 103, ‘flies’ over the surface of the magnetic disk 101 at a high velocity, reading data from and writing data to concentric data tracks 104 on the disk 101. The slider 102 is positioned radially by a voice coil motor 105.
FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of a head slider 102 flying over the surface of a magnetic disk 101 as is typical in the art. Modern head sliders 102 float over the surface of the disk 101 on a cushion of air. If the ‘flying height’ is too great, the head 201 on the head slider cannot properly read from and write to the disk 101. If it is too small, there is an increased chance of a head crash.
If a head slider 102 contacts the surface of the disk while it is at operational speed, the result can be a loss of data, damage to the head slider, damage to the surface of the disk 101, or all three. One of the most common causes of head crashes is a contaminant getting wedged in the microscopic gap between head 102 and disk 101. Head sliders 102 are typically ceramic for durability and corrosion resistance. A ceramic slider is durable due to its hardness. The tradeoff, however, of ceramic's hardness is its brittleness. When a row bar is cut into individual sliders 102 (explained below), the ceramic crystal array causes the slider 102 edges to crack easily. Loose chips of ceramic material may be found on the cutting surface edge corners even after solvent cleaning. Also, after cutting a row bar into individual sliders, a high point is often left on the cut slider surface. This is known as ‘edge jump’. Edge jump is believed to be from the stress applied to the cut edge of the slider 102. A deformation layer 301 is created by the pressure created by the cutting process. (See FIG. 3).
FIG. 3 illustrates the problems related to particle contamination and edge jump as is typical in the art. The problems concerning loose chips 302 and edge jump 301 can cause hard drive head crashes. A loose chip 302 may fall from the slider and contaminate the interface between the slider 102 and disk 101. An edge jump 301 can affect a slider's anti-shock performance negatively. If the HDD gets a physical impact while operating, a location of edge jump may contact and damage the disk 101.
It is therefore desirable to have a system and method for edge blending hard drive head sliders that avoids the above-mentioned problems, as well as having additional benefits.